Fate
by keelhaulrose
Summary: Hermione meets her soulmate in less-than-ideal circumstances.


**Part 1 of the Marked series**

**I'm going to be dumping a bunch of fics today. They were all written for the Hermione's Haven #HHBingo19 event. If you do not follow me on AO3 I would suggest going over there sometime, most of these fics have artwork accompanying them there.**

**This was my B4 square- soulmates**

No one knew when soulmate marks started appearing on people, as it predated written records. Why they appeared was just as much a mystery, with nearly every culture having their own stories to explain how and why they came to be, blaming various gods, magic, or some form of spirit. There were only two solid things that were universally true around the globe: first, that not everyone had a mark, and second, that not everyone with a mark would find their soulmate. They had been studied for millennia looking for patters, correlations, any form of reason or way to predict who might be born with one, and still no one could give solid answers as to why some were destined for each other by fate and some were not. Most who had them would search out their other half, stories went back for centuries of men and women traveling from town to town in search of the one who bore the mark that was meant to symbolize them, but in the 20th century most of those who were looking turned to the internet to aid in their search. Modern science did its best, revealing that soulmates could be verified through a blood test, but still could give no concrete reason as to why the marks appeared. Eventually laws were crafted to protect those who bore marks, at first to exempt them from arranged marriages to those who didn't have one, but later to ensure access to one's soulmate.

Those laws were how Hermione found herself standing outside a heavily guarded room, looking through a small glass window as she rubbed the red star upon her left shoulder absentmindedly. To her left stood none other than Steve Rogers, Captain America himself, studying her appraisingly, though she did her best to avoid his gaze. It was just a few days ago that Harry had presented her a picture he had nicked from work, a fugitive even the magical world was being warned about, the so-called Winter Soldier, and he hadn't had to say a word to tell her why he was giving her the photo. The red star on the Winter Soldier's metal arm gleamed brightly in the photo, the exact size and place that her own mark sat. She had called off work to do her best to study the famed assassin, even breaking into some official offices to get more information, but the more she learned the more her heart sank. How could fate be so cruel as to match her to such a man? She knew he would most likely be killed in the coming days, and she'd still bear the mark that would most likely mean she would be alone for the rest of her days.

When she learned she had been captured Harry took her to Berlin to exercise her right to see him. She had to submit to a blood test, but when that came back a positive match there was little anyone could do to stop her. That didn't mean, however, that they would be letting him out of his cell, so Hermione would have to settle for meeting her soulmate as he sat strapped down behind thick glass, and only for a short amount of time. As she waited for the all-clear to go in doubts raced through her head. What, exactly, was the point of all this? Why on earth would she want to meet a man she would never be able to touch? In the end she knew she wanted to speak to him, even if it were only just once, because she didn't want to spend her whole life not knowing.

"You can go in now," Steve said, opening the door for her.

"Thank you," she said, the words so soft that she wasn't sure they were audible, before forcing her feet forward. The door shut behind her and she could hear the soft pad of her trainers against the concrete floor as she crossed the room. She could feel eyes on her through the cameras, but her eyes wouldn't stray from the man in the cell. She walked up as close as she could to it and took a deep breath.

"Hullo, Mr. Barnes," she said, and she could hear her nerves in her voice. "My name is Hermione Granger."

His eyes studied her face for a long moment, but he didn't say anything.

"I'm... I'm your soulmate," she added.

A look of surprise crossed his face, and his eyes glanced towards his right wrist, though his shirt obscured whatever he might have been trying to see. Then he looked back at her, eyes scanning every inch of her visible skin.

Realizing what he was looking for Hermione pushed up the sleeve of her shirt and turned her shoulder towards him, showing him the star.

He winced. "Of all the marks you could have gotten, I'm sorry that's the one that showed," he said, his voice sounding tired.

"At least it made it easy to find you," she replied.

He let off a mirthless chuckle. "It's not exactly ideal circumstances."

"I can't say that it is," she agreed.

They looked at each other for a long moment in silence.

"Well, I'd introduce myself proper, but I think I might be a bit infamous," he finally said. "So we can probably skip the whole 'where are you from and what do you do' on my end. Tell me about yourself, Hermione."

She glanced nervously at one of the cameras. She had revealed herself as a witch to a few people who controlled access, but she had no idea who might be watching the feed, so she had to be careful. "I live in London. I'm a psychologist."

"You're a right respectable girl then, aren't you?" he said with a smile.

"I like to say I try my best," she replied.

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for your bad luck, Hermione. You're a beautiful woman, the type of girl any man would love to have on his arm, but it doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon."

"I know," she replied, and another uncomfortable silence fell over them.

"What's the otter?" he finally asked.

"Pardon me?"

"I'd show you if I could move. It's on my wrist, clear as day since I was born. I didn't even know what it was for the longest time, I had no idea what the hell an otter was. It wasn't until some broad in a market caught a glimpse of it and said what it was that I knew. But I wasn't sure how in the hell it could relate to my soulmate. I thought, maybe, you were a zookeeper or something, but if you're a head doctor I doubt you do that one the side."

She bit her lip, thinking hard. "Otters are... somewhat of my spirit animal. I've got a deep connection to them, it's really hard to explain, and it's really not the time or place to do so."

"I wish we had enough time that we could talk about it."

"I do, too."

"You know, when I finally came out of whatever fog they had me in to keep me... under control, the mark was the first thing I thought about. I was so sure that some girl out there went to her grave wondering why she was one of the unlucky ones. When I was younger I kind of assumed that I'd go looking for her after the war. The thought that I might not have been destined to meet her until now never crossed my mind."

"I can honestly say this isn't how I pictured meeting my soulmate, either," she replied with a half-smile.

"Well, I'm glad I did get to meet you. And I really am sorry."

"Don't be. This isn't your fault."

"They don't care about that, sugar."

"I know."

"Time's up, Miss Granger," a disembodied voice came from overhead.

Bucky gave her a lopsided smile. "I'd say see you around, but..." he trailed off.

Hermione nodded, feeling her insides clench.

"I meant what I said. You seem like a fantastic girl. I hope you find a guy one day who can overlook that thing and treat you the way you're meant to be treated."

She bit her lip. "I wish you the best, Mr. Barnes."

"Bucky," he corrected.

She nodded again. "Goodbye, Bucky."

"Goodbye, Hermione," he smiled one last time, and his eyes followed her until she had backed out of the room and the door shut behind her.


End file.
